Sign in
Adnoc, Petronas and Storegga want to set up carbon capture and storage sites in Malaysia: The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) inked a joint study and development agreement with Malaysian energy outfit Petronas and UK-based Storegga to assess the feasibility of CO2 storage in saline aquifers and developing carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities, according to a press release. The three plan to kick off the study later this year.
(** Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to our background and outside sources.)
The details: The project targets at least 5 mn tonnes per annum of CCS capacity by 2030. The agreement also includes a study on CO2 shipping and logistics, geophysical and geomechanical modeling, and the application of advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to enhance storage capacity.
What they said: “This agreement with Adnoc and Storegga will potentially allow us to build our capability to develop and de-risk saline aquifers as carbon dioxide storage sites by leveraging on our partners’ expertise and experience in other regions,” CEO of Petronas Nora’in Salleh said in the statement.
Background- Adnoc made its first international equity investment in carbon management back in January, when it took a 10.1% stake in Storegga.
Not Adnoc’s first CCS venture: Adnoc invested USD 15 bn last year in a partnership with the Fujairah Natural Resources Corporation, renewables developer Masdar, and Omani carbon removal and mineralization outfit 44.01 to pilot technology to permanently mineralize CO2 in rock formations located in Fujairah. The firm also announced a final investment decision to set up one of the MENA region’s largest carbon capture projects last September — with the aim to capture and store 1.5 mn tons annually of CO2 within geological formations underground — and signed an agreement with Occidental Petroleum to explore potential investment opportunities in CCS hubs in the UAE and US.
Adnoc has big decarbonization plans: Adnoc secured a USD 3 bn green finance loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation last month to support its decarbonization efforts and green initiatives. The company is angling to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045 and is investing some AED 84.4 bn to decarbonize its operations. Adnoc allocated USD 15 bn last year to low-carbon solutions and decarbonization technologies and aims to capture 10 mn tons of CO2 annually by 2030.
Petronas is going all in on CCS: Petronas was amongst a number of companies that agreed to launch a CCS plant at depleted oil and gas fields off the coast of Malaysia last year. The project will kick off operations by the end of 2028 with an initial 2 mn sequestration capacity, with plans to later scale up storage to 5 mn tons by the end of the decade before doubling capacity by the early 2030s. Petronas and Japan’s Jera also signed a joint study agreement to explore the feasibility of establishing a CCS value chain in April.
There’s growing UAE’s interest in Malaysia’s green economy: UAE renewables giant Masdar inked an agreement with Worldwide Holdings Berhad in April to develop 1 GW of renewable energy projects in Selangor, Malaysia, focusing on floating solar, ground-mounted solar, rooftop solar, hydro, and hybrid systems. This comes as part of a larger agreement by Masdar to invest USD 8 bn to build up to 10 GW of renewables projects in Malaysia by 2035. Dubai-based biofuels producer Lootah signed an agreement with Malaysia’s FatHopes Energy to study establishing a sustainable aviation fuel feedstock aggregation storage terminal in Malaysia last year.
